I Will Enable Discovery in 2016

I’m a lucky duck to be an L.A. boy in the OIBIZ. I feel it more now than ever, as the winter of 2015-16 has brought both awesome joy and some sorrow in the passing of good friends. These were friends I made in L.A. as we shared the passion of communing in nature together in the ocean, mountains, deserts and coastal woods that define the region from Santa Barbara to Baja California. With these men, I learned the meaning of Adventure and infused my life with it, quickly realizing the value of experiential learning and of iterating attempts toward successful outcomes. What a revelation it was, when I was able to unlock a particular movement or section of climb that evaded me previously… and even now, there are mountains I’ve attempted once, twice, thrice and have yet to stand on the summit. And that is just great with me. It’s less and less about the achievement; more these days, it thrills me to learn to live simply and understand complex ecosystems. Don’t get me wrong; I still get the willies with high exposure, and take a big gulp of rarified air before plunging down even a semi-steep bowl or tree run in the wild. But those are the exclamation points in the whole story of my love affair with wild earth.

This video clip, shared in the maelstrom of online content kicking off 2016, felt right to share. Let us all, in this Chinese Year of the Red Fire Monkey, aspire to do what it takes to introduce new people to our natural wonderland, to the wild places we have learned to love. Maybe they will learn to love it too. Then it truly will be a Happy New Year!